Building-block



V. L. PACE.

BUILDING BLOCK.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 17. 1919.

Patented Feb. 1, 1921.

mzmzw gtM/f t vane. L. PACE, or BEAUMONT, mixes.

BUILDING-BLOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 1, 1921.

Application filed December 17, 1919. Serial No. 345,472.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, VARA L. Peon, a citizen of the United States, residing at Beaumont, in the county of Jefferson, State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Building-Blocks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to masonry and concrete structures, and more'especially to walls made up of interlocked blocks laid in tiers; and the object of the same is to produce a block or wall unit of this kind capable of being molded or otherwise formed easily, laid rapidly in tiers with the blocks in one tier or row breaking joint with those in the next subjacent tier, and having interlocking tongue-and-groove elements which automatically engage as the blocks are laid andyet which are insuch position on each block that they are protected from injury during rough handling. The block is by preference made with fiat ends or extremities, although the configuration ther eof forms no part of the present inventlon. The block is also by preference shaped on its front and rear faces to form a cling for the facing on the outside and the plastering on the inside, if these are used, although this feature is also'suspectible of modification, and in fact the outer face of the block may be ornamented and left exposed if preferred. As seen in Figure 3 of the drawings below, ventilation may be produced by erecting a double wall of these blocks with an air space between. In fact, the block may be solid or otherwise, reinforced or not, of any ap propriate size and material, and provided with other details of construction not set forth herein.

The essential features of the invention are disclosed in the following specification and claim, reference being had to the drawings wherein:

Fig. l is a blocks.

Fig. 2 is an elevation showing a wall being erected by the use of these blocks.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a double wall being built from the-same.-

In what might be called the front elevation this block is rectangular in general contour, being of greater dlmenslon longiperspective view of one of these tudinally than it is vertically. We are not concerned with the third dimension which is its thlOkIlGSS, and I may say here that its outer face 1 which is presented toward the-6o respect thereto is reserved. The ends or end faces'3 of the block are herein shown as flat and are-illustrated in Fig. 2 as abutting each other squarely, but here again the possibility of elaborat on is apparent, as these faces might be made irregular to receive the mortar or other cement in which the blocks are laid and by which they are tied, and it 1s quite possible that such end faces could be provided with vertical tongue and grooves for positively interlocking, since the blocks are laid by a strictly vertical movement as will be explained. While the blocks might possibly be provided with upright openings adapted to aline when they are laid in tiers and staggered, I prefer to secure-ventilation by building a double wall as illustrated in Fig. 3, and in that event the two thicknesses would doubtless be tied together in some way not necessary to elaborate. Half blocks will also be made for the ends of a wall or the corners, as 'well understood by those skilled in the art and therefore not necessary to illustrate. Finally, the drawings show the various blocks in close abutting contact, but it is to be understood that their mating faces will beconstructed with provision for the interposition of the mortar or cement by which the blocks are connected.

In front elevation each block is-substantially H-shaped and includes a horizontal web which is relatively thin, right heads which are relatively thick, or to state it differently, the body of the block has transverse channels 4 and 5 extending across its upper and lower faces from its front-to uniting two upl its rear face, and leaving transverse ribs which the length of the block is divided channel are also flat.

would of course intersect the oblique end walls at their centers, while the intermediate or central line would bisect the bottom 10. The end walls of the upper channel are provided with upright grooves 12, their hottoms diverging in parallelism with the faces of the top wall. The end walls of the lower vided with lugs or tongues 13, each slightly smaller than one of the grooves just de-' scribed, its inner edge inclining outward and downward. The upper and lower faces of the ribs are also flat, and the end faces 3 of the block are flat as already stated. An advantage arises from having considerable flat surfaces at the top and bottom and ends of any building block, because while irregularities therein may be complemented by contiguous blocks during erection of most of the wall, there are numerous instances where no similar block will be contiguous. For instance, the lower tier of blocks will rest on the foundation or sill the upper tier will underlie the plate, the ends of many blocks will'define the corners of a building or come against the sides of a door frame or window frame. it have purposely avoided the formation of any tongues or grooves in those faces of this block which arelikely to abut some fiat element, and thereby T secure the greatest area of contact and the least chance that a projection such as a tongue 13 might be broken ofl.

In Fig. 2 a wall composed of these blocks is being laid, and several bloclrs in the lower Tts end walls are protier are in place, while oneblock A in the tier above is already in lace and two adjacent blocks B and C are a out to be laid. It will be observed that the ribs 8 and 9 of block A pass over the ribs 7 and 6 of the two blocks in the subjacent tier, or in other words, the lower channel 5 of the block A has received the two ribs of the blocks below it. The rib 9 of block B is about to descend into the unoccupied left half of the upper channel in the subjacent block, its extremity 3 sliding against that of the block A, and its tongue 13 ready to pass into the groove 12 which is seen in dotted lines. So also the block C is about to be dropped into place. When the second row has been fully laid upon the first row, the blocks in the former will break joint with those in the latter and will interlock with them. No block can then move endwise nor forward or backward, no block can descend, and only those in the upper row can rise; and these will of course be prevented from rising when the next row or tier is laid upon them. Therefore a wall constructed of building blocks so made and so locked possesses great strength, and yet all the advantages first mentioned above are present. Having built the wall it may be faced as at F and plastered as at P, and otherwise finished in a manner not necessary to elaborate.

What ll claim is:

A substantially rectangular building block whose upper and lower faces have transverse ribs at their ends flat" at-top and bottom and transverse channels between the ribs also flat at top and bottom, each channel being of a size to receive two such ribs, the end walls of one channel having upright grooves and those of the other channel having tongues to fit such grooves in two blocks in the next tier.

lln testimony whereof, I afiix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

- VARA L. PACE.

D. M. BURRJELL. 

